The Denver Broncos are almost completely free from the abject disaster that was the Russell Wilson era. Wilson's time in Denver was meant to be the sequel to the Peyton Manning era in Denver, an incredible four-year stretch in which Manning was absolutely dominant (for the most part), helping lead the franchise to its third Super Bowl victory.
Wilson came to Denver with aims of playing another decade in the Mile High City. He was benched before the end of his second year with the team.
Before any of that took place on the field, Wilson was given a massive contract with the Broncos which the team is still paying for -- in a way -- in 2025. The new ownership group in Denver signed off on a massive contract extension with Wilson which seemed like a fine investment at the time. Wilson had historically been a top-10 overall quarterback with Seattle, an instant ticket to the playoffs almost every year.
What could possibly go wrong?
Everything.
Russell Wilson's dead cap with Broncos down in 2025, over in 2026
After cutting Wilson unceremoniously in 2024, the Broncos took on an NFL record for dead cap on an individual player at $85 million. They opted to take the largest chunk of that dead cap hit last year ($53 million), leaving $32 million in dead money yet to be accounted for in 2025.
Thanks to Deebo Samuel ($34 million), that figure for Wilson isn't the highest dead cap hit for an individual player two years running. The Broncos clearly made the right call taking the brunt of the dead money hit last year but missing $32 million on your salary cap for one player is still brutal. That $32 million in dead cap represents a whopping 11.46 percent of the overall salary cap ($279.2 million).
The good news for the Broncos is that all of Wilson's dead money is off the books after this year. We've all made regrettable financial decisions at some point or another, but this ranks as one of the worst in league history. Certainly the worst in Denver Broncos franchise history.
But can you put a price on discovering your franchise QB, regardless of the path? The Broncos used the 12th overall pick last year on Bo Nix, and appear to have found the player they can build around at the game's most important position. That feels almost like a fair trade given the cap situation the team finds itself in.
Outside of Wilson, the Broncos don't have much dead cap at all. Their total dead cap in 2025 is a shade over $33.5 million, and $1 million is coming from Josh Reynolds.
In 2026, the Broncos currently don't have any dead cap on their account. That is a testament to the hard work of this front office to keep things in order with such a massive hurdle to overcome.
The Broncos aren't completely able to wash their hands of the Russell Wilson debacle yet, but they're not far off.